After all, the Rosenborg defender suffered more tragedy in the early part of his life than most of us will face in a lifetime.

As a teenager he was forced to take a break from football to spend time with his girlfriend who only had months to live due to cancer.

And three years after she passed away, Hedenstad had to cope with the death of Stabaek team-mate Tor Marius Gromstad at the age of just 22.

It’s fair to say then the Norwegian full-back isn’t going to get too carried away with a Champions League third qualifying round first-leg draw at Celtic.

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Hedenstad knows there’s plenty of work still to be done by Kare Ingebrigtsen’s side in Trondheim on Wednesday night.

Of course, getting through the tie and maybe even reaching the lucrative group stage won’t make up for the trauma he suffered earlier in his career.

But the 26-year-old would love to achieve it with the Norwegian side and realise a dream he has had since he was a kid.

As Hedenstad looked ahead to the second leg in midweek following their 0-0 stalemate, he said: “It would be amazing for Rosenborg to be back playing in the Champions League group stage – a dream come true for these players.

“I had some bad experiences when I was younger and some tough times. The Champions League wouldn’t make up for it but it would be such a nice feeling to play at that level, not just for me

but all our players. Every footballer wants to play in that competition because it’s the biggest in Europe – that’s what everyone works towards in their career.

“When I came to Rosenborg the target was always the Champions League or at least the Europa League. Hopefully this can be our year.”

Hedenstad, who has four caps for Norway, was one of Rosenborg’s best players at Parkhead last week.

The 26-year-old managed to shackle Scotland’s Player of the Year, Scott Sinclair, as part of a defensive wall the Hoops couldn’t get past.

And the former Freiburg and St Pauli player expects Ingebrigtsen to adopt the same tactics at the Lerkendal Stadium.

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He said: “I managed to keep Sinclair fairly quiet and felt I had a good game against him.

“He’s a great player with fantastic skill. You can see he’s maybe not at 100 per cent fitness but he was still dangerous.

“We’ll need to be aware of him again on Wednesday night but I’m confident I can defend well again.

“We will take a lot of confidence from the game in Glasgow into the second leg.

“We know we have a very good team who on our day can compete with teams like Celtic. We feel good about our chances on Wednesday. If we can keep a clean sheet in Trondheim we should go through.

“It’s always a good feeling to keep a clean sheet, especially in a game and a stadium like that. It will be a great fight in the second leg and hopefully we can fill up our stadium for the game.

“We want to create the type of atmosphere Celtic had at their ground but this time it will be for us.

“We’ll have the same game plan as Wednesday. Maybe we’ll have a bit more of the ball but I’m sure our defensive structure will be the same. Our goal is to keep Celtic out again, just like in the first game.”

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Having spent time at German side St Pauli, whose supporters have always had close links with Celtic’s fans, Hedenstad likely knows more about the Hoops than most of his Rosenborg pals.

He’s well aware of how impressive their 0-0 result was against Rodgers’ men, who blew away everyone in the Premiership last season. But he’s also not naive enough to think the Norwegians have one foot in the play-off round.

He said: “For us it was a great game and result on Wednesday night. We had the best chances. At the end we were happy but looking back we should have scored a goal to take back to Norway.

“But it’s still a very open tie. I know Celtic have a very good team and I’d say they’re still favourites to qualify.

“I had a spell with St Pauli and they have a close relationship with Celtic.

“Their fans have links with each other – there’s a real connection between them and I was told about this in Germany. So I knew just how big Celtic were by listening to them.

“But now we have a 50/50 tie with them and a very decent chance to beat them.